DERRY GIRL ZOE CANCER AGONY
Battle for sitcom tot,4
DERRY GIRLS star Zoe Brown has been diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of four.
The youngster and her twin Sophie played Erin Quinn’s little sister Anna in the hit Channel 4 teen sitcom.
Zoe’s mum Leah yesterday told how her girl was “still smiling” despite starting her cancer treatment last month.
She said: “Zoe gets lumbar punctures to put chemo in her spinal fluid and that’s done under anaesthetic. You never think your child is going to be in theatre at all, but over the last seven weeks, she has been in loads of times.”
Leah also said Zoe worries about losing her hair.
She added: “I know that’s not the main concern, but it’s the saddest wee bit for her.
“She had the longest, thickest hair… it was the first thing anyone talked about when they saw her.” In a message of support to the family, Derry Girls creator Lisa Mcgee wrote: “I am so sorry Zoe is going through this.
“She’s the most wonderful girl and we are lucky to have her as part of our Derry Girls family.”
Zoe will have treatment until Christmas and will then need chemo for two years.
A Justgiving page set up by a family friend to help with medical costs has already received almost £5,000 in donations.
The page states: “Zoe got a diagnosis in May that she has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
“It all happened so fas. She has had three blood transfusions, then a bone marrow biopsy. Her treatment includes chemo drugs. The side-effects are brutal. It’s a long road ahead.”
Derry Girls, which follows the lives of teenagers in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, is the most successful Channel 4 comedy since Father Ted.